Burrell Piret

Burrell (Burl) Ray Piret was born in Van Buren, Arkansas on May 2, 1929, peacefully passed away on the morning of October 20, 2015. Preceding him in death were his father, Ademar Piret; mother, Grace Cecilia Donnohue; and two older sisters, Patsy and Geraldine (Gerry). He lived an extremely full and exciting life sharing his many adventures with his wife of 57 years, Glendola (Fields). Surviving is his son, Brian (wife Tracy) from Bloomington, and three grandchildren, Jessicah (fianc Tanner Fowler) from Anna, Texas, Tyler from Phoenix, Arizona, and Kylie who currently resides in Bloomington.Burrell retired from the Navy in 1977 to his wife's hometown, Vincennes where he briefly worked at the R.C. Bottling Company on Willow Street before leaving to take a position on the maintenance team at Hamilton Glass - now Gemtron. He retired from Hamilton Glass thirteen years later and spent the rest of his retirement doing the things he enjoyed most - reading a good book, working on electronics, and spending time with friends and family. He lived in Vincennes until Glen's passing in 2014 when he moved to Bloomington to be closer to family. .Burrell was a gifted storyteller sharing his many adventures with both family and friends. It wasn't in Burrell's nature to simply tell a story and move on to the next, instead, retelling the same stories. Family members are grateful due to the fact, that they can now retell his stories, most of them by heart.Burrell was raised by his mother and two older sisters. While living in Arkansas he spent some time at the School of the Ozarks, near Branson. It was here that J.C. Penney's annual speeches to the student body left a lasting impression on him. His family moved to Phoenix, Arizona where more employment opportunities were available.At 16, after convincing his Aunt to forge his mother's signature, Burrell joined the Navy. His first assignment was to serve as a member of the Inaugural crew on the newly christenedEssex-class aircraft carrier USS Leyte (CV-32). The Leyte joined battleship Wisconsin on a good will cruise down the western seaboard of South America in the fall of 1946 before returning to the Caribbean. He loved to reminisce about his time spent in the Mediterranean. Among his favorite stops were Cannes, Nice, Monte Carlo, Rome, Athens, Istanbul, and Algiers - especially his time spent on the Rock of Gibraltar and the Riviera.Burrell had a deep love for the Navy. That was until his time in the North Atlantic when participating in Operation Frigid. After spending more than a month in sub-zero temperatures on a crew who hadn't been issued any extreme cold weather gear, Burrell realized the Navy wasn't for him.Instead, moving to Northern California to fall three-hundred foot Coastal Redwoods before an accident injuring him and claiming the life of his friend standing next to him caused some reflection about returning to service in the Navy.After re-enlisting in the Navy, he spent time on many other ships including the USS Philippine Sea (CV-47), USS Kent County (LST-855), and the USS Hoel (DDG-13). Burrell always spoke fondly of his time at ports Quonset Point, Rhode Island and San Diego, California. It was in San Diego, when he began writing to the niece of a couple who ran the hotel where he stayed while on shore. After numerous letters back and forth, and a brief courtship, Burrell and Glendola (Fields) married in November of 1956.Burrell and Glen were together at every duty station except when orders forced them to pack up from Honolulu and move to Maine in the middle of winter. The winter proved too harsh for Glen who returned to Vincennes until adequate housing was available. Meanwhile Burrell remained at the shore radio station operating and maintaining the one-way communication system the Navy's Atlantic Fleet uses to communicate to submarines, both on the surface and submerged. The VLF is still one of the most powerful radio transmitters in the world.Burrell was extremely proud of his accomplishments in the Navy, especially his time spent working in the Pentagon in the late 60s where he was heavily involved in the launch of the, then SECRET, Compass Link satellite transmission system (declassified 2006). The constraints placed on commanders in Southeast Asia made it necessary to keep high-level government officials and many national agencies well informed on the combat situation. Frequently this meant the forwarding of reconnaissance imagery to Washington, D. C. for use in making decisions on such items as strike targeting in politically sensitive areas; i.e., Cambodia and Laos. At the time, commanders were forced to rely on the conventional courier system, which required many hours, or even days, to deliver high-interest imagery to agencies in Washington, D. C. - Transmission time for photo-imagery was cut from hours to a matter of minutes with the establishment of the COMPASS LINK satellite relay system.Burrell continued his service in the Vietnam War a little closer to the theater, when he and his family were transferred to the Philippine Islands. Burrell was senior enlisted man at Mobile Technical Unit 13 where he commuted regularly to Vietnam to repair sensitive equipment used by the Brown Water Navy.Burrell's final duty station was Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where he retired after 26 years of military service.Burrell was never without a smile on his face or a kind word. He was always ready for a hug and will be dearly missed for his sweet and caring nature toward everyone.Friends may visit the family from 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm Tuesday October 27, 2015 at Goodwin Funeral Home, 524 Broadway, Vincennes, IN. Funeral will be held at 10:00 am on Wednesday October 28, 2015 at the funeral home, interment will follow at Memorial Park Cemetery. In Lieu of flowers memorial donations can be made to the Vincennes Humane Society. online condolences can be made at www.goodwinfamilyfh.com